Improvement in machine for washing- wool



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JOHNMCNAUGHT AND WILLIAM, MCNAUGHT, JR., or ROCHDALE ENGLAND.l

Lem/rs Patent No. 89,420, dazed Apre 27, 1869.

DEPROV'EMZENT IN MACHINE FOR WASHING- WOOL.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

To all to whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, J ORN MCNAUGHT and WIL- LIAM MGNAUGHT, Jr., both ofRochdale, in the county of Lancaster, in England, engineers, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Machinery for WashingWool and other Fibrous Materials, and we hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had tothe Our improvedmachinery consists of Ya series of two or more rakes,for traversing the wool or other fibres along the cistern to an inclinedplane, up which they are moved by an improved cradle, and delivered to aseries of rollers, which convey them to the squeezers.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of one of our improved machines forwashing wool or other fibrous maf terials.

Figure 2 is a plan of the same.

a is the trough.

b, a perforated false bottom in the same, supported by stays c.

d is a side-shaft, supported in bearings xed to the trough, for givingmotion to the rakes or propellers e e, the last of which'may have twosets of prongs.

These rakes convey the wool or other fibrous material to the inclinedplane f, up which the wool or other material is carried, by means of thecradle or lifter g, to the small rollers h h, and by them forward to thesqueezer-rollers i i.

if is a frame, of iron or any other suitable material, to which are xedteeth or prongs of the cradle or lifter g, for raking or carrying thewool up the ineline j'.

c c are brackets, fitted to the frame g', between which the crank kacts, to give it the requisite to-andfro motion.

The up-and-down motion is given to the cradle or lifter g by the earnskl, which, in revolving, act on .the under side of the top rail of theframe g.

One pair of cams is fixed to the same shaft as the crank k, and theother pair is fixed to the shaft k2.

The frame lf is supported on the cams, which prevent the teeth or prongsof the cradle or lifter from' bearing on the bottom of the inclinedplane j'.

The points of the teeth of the last of the propel- 1ing-rakes e work Ainthe curved end of the false bottom b, and lift th'e wool or othermaterial on to thc lower end of the inclined surface f, through whichthe series of prongs n shoots up, to retain it.

These prongs are formed upon arms fixed to the shaft a, and pass throughholes in the bottom of the inclined surface. A

The shaft n is made to oscillate by a cam on the shaft k2, the motion ofwhich is transmitted through the rod n2, jointed to the lever a3, fixedto the shaft u.

The cam is formed to lift up the prongs quickly,

when the fibrous material is deposited on the inclined surface, and towithdraw them into the position shown in fig. 1when the cradle or lifterg is about to drop over them.

Thewool or other material to be operated upon is put into the cistern a,in which is the necessary liquid.

The side-shaft (l, being set in motion by the pulley j on thedriving-shaftj, imparts the requisite motion to the rakes or propellerse in the following manner:

The shank of each rake, e, 'passes through and is fastened(to a socket,e?, in which socket the shank of the rake is adjustable, andI swivels onthe crank es, lixed to the crank-shaft e, which is driven by mitrewheelsfrom the side-shaft cl.

The upper end of each shank el is jointed to a link, e5, whose fulcrum,e6, is adjustable; and, by moving this fulcrum nearer to or further fromthe shaft e4, the sweep of the rakes is varied.

The combined action of two or more of these rakes. agitates the fibrousmaterial, and carries it along the bottom of the trough a, and leaves iton the bottom of the inclined plane f, where it is held, by the risingof the prongs n, until it is carried forward bythe cradle or lifter g.

This cradle or `lifter g, as before described,is.worked bythe cams K Kand the crank 7o, and is so actuated that, after the wool has beendeposited on the bottom of the incline f, it drops upon it, and drags itup the incline to the extent of its stroke. lThe cradle then rises, andreturns over the wool, to again drop upon it, and to again drag it up,the retaining-prongs withdrawing immediately upon the cradle droppingupon the wool.

The cams K K are made to revolve by the wheels ll, which receive theirmotion from the wheel m, fitted on the shaft j.

The wool or material, being carried, by the cradle g, up the incline f,is pushed over, at the end, on to the rollers h ZL, which are coveredwith sheet-brass or other suitable metal or material, and revolve in thesame di rection, that is, toward the squeczer-rollers i t'.

The small rollers h h are driven at accelerated speeds in regard toveach other, increasing in speed asthey approach the squeezer-rollersq.

The water pressed from thewool or other fibrous material, as it passesbetween the squeezer-rollers, falls into the trough z, from whence it isconveyed, through the pipe z', into the cistern a.

Having thus stated the' nature of our invention, and described themanner of performing the same,

lVe declare that what we claim herein as new, 'and desire to securehyLetters Patent of the United States, is v l. The connecting-link ei,with its adjustable fulcrum, combined with the rakes, for regulating thesweep ofthe points thereof, substantially as specified.

2. The inclined plate j', forming part of the trough a, combined withthe cradle or lifter g, substantially as specified.

3. AThe arrangement of the crank 7c, brackets c', cams k1, and bars g',for actuating the cradle, substantially as speeied.

4. The retaining-prongs n, combined .with the inclined bottom f, andactuated substantially as specied.

5. The combination of the cradle g with the in- In testimony whereof, wehave hereunto set our v' hands, before two subscribing Witnesses.

JOHN MCNAUGHT.' WM. MGNAUGHT, JR. Witnesses:

H. B. BALOW, Patent Agent, Manchester. H. BARLOW,Junr.,PatentAgent,Manchester.

